The reason why Matthew Modine turned down the 'Top Gun' role.
Nicholas Hoult Turned Down Tom Cruise's Offer
Hoult had screen-tested for a part in Top Gun: Maverick, but unfortunately was denied the role. And since we have all seen just how well the film was received, it must have been a huge blow to the actor.
Meg Ryan originally played Goose's wife in the first Top Gun movie, but Carole Bradshaw didn't appear in the sequel. Here's why. Despite her role in Top Gun as Goose's wife, Top Gun: Maverick's cast did not include Meg Ryan.
During a recent appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show, Modine was game when his host brought up some of the big roles he turned down. Perhaps the biggest one: He could have been Pete “Maverick” Mitchell in Top Gun (and presumably its even more money-gobbling sequel).
Nicholas Hoult said he missed out on roles in three blockbuster films in a row after a flurry of screen tests and scheduling conflicts.
Few actors are as legendary as Nicolas Cage when it comes to chewing scenery and giving bombastic performances. Cage has seemingly made a career out of it, being immortalized for the strange characters he plays, the way he commits 100% to all his roles, and how memorable his on-screen outbursts are.
“What followed his father's death and his financial ruin was a decade-long odyssey to do as many movies as possible for as much money as possible to pay his debts,” Paiella writes. At the time, Cage owed the IRS $14m and, per GQ, “millions more” to other creditors.
Val Kilmer was considered for the role of Jeffrey Wigand. Val Kilmer turned down the lead role of Louis. Val Kilmer was going to star, but dropped out when he was offered the role of Batman in Batman Forever.
One was Ally Sheedy, who was fresh off starring roles in The Breakfast Club, Oxford Blues, and St. Elmo's Fire. Based the characters she had played, Sheedy does seem like she would have been a sensible choice for Charlie. However, Sheedy turned down the part.
I say "infamously" because Stoltz was dropped from the movie in the early part of filming, by which point it had become obvious that he just wasn't right for the role.
Maverick achieved a record Mach 10.3 before his plane exploded. Instead of being hailed as a hero, Admiral Cain (Ed Harris) wanted to throw him out of the Navy. At the start of Top Gun: Maverick, Admiral Cain told Maverick that his plan is to eventually replace pilots with drones.
Is Penny Benjamin in the Original "Top Gun"? Penny, played by Jennifer Connelly, is not physically in the first "Top Gun" movie, but she does exist in it, though only mentioned in passing. She is never actually seen on screen.
Jennifer Connelly plays Penny in the new Top Gun film. Connelly is an Oscar-winning actress who has been working since the '80s and is famous for roles in films like A Beautiful Mind, Requiem for a Dream and Labyrinth.
Rob Lowe was another teen star from The Outsiders who was offered the lead part in Top Gun. While it's unknown why the St. Elmo's Fire actor turned down the role of Maverick, Lowe didn't hold back on sharing his criticisms of Cruise's behavior in the 1980s.
Penny Benjamin, played by Jennifer Connelly, steps in to fill a difficult gap with her character in the much-anticipated “Top Gun” sequel.
Other actors considered were Cruise's The Outsiders castmates, Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, and Emilio Estevez, and Sean Penn, and Michael J. Fox, who would later star in another war film, 1989's Casualties of War.
Meg Ryan Was Not Asked to Return
Director Joseph Kosinski told Insider that the return of both Ryan and Kelly McGillis was never even considered during development. Kosinski did not want every storyline in the film "to be looking backwards," and he instead took the time to introduce new characters.
The 64-year-old actress told ET that she left Hollywood to get sober and focus on raising her family, and isn't necessarily itching to see the sequel anyway. “I guess it depends on what kind of reviews it gets,” she said. “I'm not racing to the theater, and I'm not racing away from the theater to see it.”
Ultimately, instead of re-pairing Maverick with Charlie, the decision was made to properly reintroduce Penny Benjamin from Top Gun, instead. However, Charlie actress Kelly McGillis believes that there's a different explanation for not being called back for Top Gun: Maverick: her age and looks.
But Swayze almost turned down Dirty Dancing due to a serious knee injury he sustained during his Broadway days, with his resume even reading "no dancing." 4. Before Jennifer Grey was cast as Baby, Sarah Jessica Parker and Winona Ryder auditioned.
“As COVID overtook the world, it became insurmountable. We were prepping in the spring of the year that it was most happening. And Val reluctantly didn't feel he could come out.”
Val Kilmer's own battle with throat cancer severely impacted his ability to speak. Kilmer now communicates through an artificial voice box, making his scene in the movie Top Gun: Maverick even more emotional with the actor being a real-life cancer survivor.
7 Neo – The Matrix Franchise (1999-2021)
Many people were considered for the role of Neo, and Cage was one of them. He turned it down for his family; he was in the middle of a divorce, and didn't want to be away from his son. The role would go to Reeves, who made Neo an iconic character.
Nicolas Cage has admitted that he took on so many low budget, straight to VOD roles in recent years in order to help pay off his debts, but clarified that he still gave every performance his all.
Interestingly, Nicolas Cage and Keanu Reeves have never starred in a movie together. Still, while Cage is now playing Count Dracula, Reeves has his own Dracula twist in his filmography, starring in 1992's Bram Stoker's Dracula as Jonathan Harker.